Railway pneumatic apparatus.



J. R. RIGKETTS.

RAILWAY PNBUMATIG APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 2, 1911. 1,019,363, Patented Mar. 5, 1912.

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J. R. BICKETTS. RAILWAY PNBUMATIC APPARATUS.

APPLIoATIoN FILED JUNE 2, 1911.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFTDE,

JAMES R. RICKETTS, OF LOS ANGELES, CALllIORNIA,` ASSIGNOR TO AIR DEVICECOM- PANY, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION 0F CALIFORNIA.

RAILWAY PNEUMATIC APPARATUS.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES R. Rroxnr'rs, a citizen of the United States,residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State ofCalifornia, have invented new and useful Improvements in RailwayPneumatic Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to railway pneumatic apparatus, and it has forits object to provide means or mechanism or apparatus, or all of thesame, for the utilization of partially spent compressed air constitutingthe exhaust from the pneumatically operated brakes of rolling stock.According to present practice the exhaust and partially spentcompressedair from rolling stock brakes is passed directly to the outer air, andthe expansive energy still contained thereby is wasted.

According to the present invention I utilize the energy still residentin this partially spent compressed air, for other purposes incident torailway service, such as for operating gates, blowing whistles or forother purposes according to the conditions and possibilities of` servicemet with in a given instance.

With the above objects in view, the invention consists in the novel anduseful provision, construction, formation, combination, association andrelative arrangement of parts, members and features, all as hereinafterdescribed, shown in the drawings and finally pointed out in claims.

Tn the drawings :-Figure 1 is a diagrammatic, partly sectional view ofrailway pneumatic apparatus organized and constructed in accordance withthe invention; Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail sectional elevation of aportion of the construction shown in Fig. 1, parts being shown inelevation; Fig. 3 is an enlarged top plan view of a portion of theconstruction shown in Fig. l; Fig. i is an enlarged elevation of part ofthe construction shown in Figs. 1 and 3, parts being broken away forfullness of illustration; Fig. 5 is an enlarged elevation similar tothat shown in Fig. 4, showing further features of the invention; and,Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view taken upon the line 6-6, Fig. 3.

Corresponding parts in all the figures are denoted by the same referencecharacters.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed .Tune 2, 1911.

PatentedMar. 5, 1912.

Serial No. 630,851.

Referring with particularity to the drawings, A designates an air brakecontroller of the standard Westinghouse type, certain adjuncts beingadded thereto, as herinafter recited, but not varying the normaloperation thereof in any essential respects, with relation to itsordinary purposes. a designates the operating handle of the controllerA. The controller is shown as suspended upon a frame member 6 of arailway car, which rises from the forward end of the floor 7 of the car.Beneath the floor are shown a compressed air supply container B, a brakeor jam cylinder C, and an exhaust air container D, the same beingconnected respectively with the controller` A by supply pipes b, c andCZ. These pipes are customarily present in standard air brake mechanism,the exhaust'air container D beingapplied to the pipe Z which ordinarilyleads from the controller A to the outer air. The pipe d is jointed toreceiveagrelease valve e and a check valve f, arranged in the orderrecited between the controller A and the exhaust air container D. Thecheck valve f opens to permit the passage of exhaust air from thecontroller A to the container D, and closes when the pressure in thecontainer D equals the pressure of exhaust air traversing the pipe el.The release valve e is normally seated by a coil spring S to preventcommunication between the pipe Z and a plurality of exhaust ports 9 in athimble Y1() surrounding the stem 11 of the valve proper 12, which isnormally held to the seat 13 by the spring 8. Means E areprovided forunseating the valve proper 12 and permitting and causing the valve torelease the exhaust air in the pipe cl, so as to release the brake, thesame being utilized when the pressure in the container` D has come up tothat of the exhaust air in the pipe el. Said means E are actuatedthrough the agency of the handle a of the controller A, and, as shown,comprise a centrally fulcrumed dog 14 mounted upon the frame member 6 bya bracket 15, and having an upwardly directed end portion 16 disposed inthe path of travel of the controller handle a, at a point adjacent tothe termination of leftward phase of movement of said handle, the otherend 17 of said dog 14 being loosely connected with a plunger 18 guidedin an opening through the 11001' 7 and connected at its lower end withthe stem 11 of the release valve e, by a head 19 above and conning thecoil spring 8. lVhen the handle a engages the upper end 16 of the dog111, as the handle moves to the end of its travel wherein the exhaustfrom the brake or jam cylinder is caused, the handle striking the upperend of the dog 14 causes the depression of the plunger 18, and theunseating of the valve proper 12, which permits iinal exhaust throughthe ports 9, to free the brake. IVhen the handle L is moved in thereverse direction, the plunger 1S automatically rises, under influenceof the spring 8, and the valve proper 12 is again seated.

To utilize the energy stored in the par tially spent air received by theexhaust air container D in the manner and by the means above recited anddescribed, for the operation of a car gate or other apparatus ormechanism, I provide a controlling valve F, which may be of the ordinarythreeway rotary type, the barrel thereof being provided with a trip 20having oppositely directed end portions o-r arms 20a and 2Obrespectively, said three-way valve admitting partially spent compressedair from the container D, through a pipe 21, to a pipe 22 leading togate actuating mechanism or the like, or stopping the pipe 21 andpermitting the pipe 22 to communicate with an exhaust pipe 23 leading tothe open air, after the actuation of the gate or the like. Thecontrolling or rotary valve F may be actuated. to produce the operativeresults last recited through the agency of controlling means Gcomprising two plungers 24 and 25 respectively mounted in keepers orguides 26 upon the controller A, as shown in Fig. 5, said plungers beingprovided at their upper ends with heads 24a and 25a disposed in adjacentpositions wherein they may receive downw Ward actuation, alternately, bya nose or cam 27 fixed to the rotary grip 28 of the handle member a ofthe controller A. As one plunger is depressed the other plunger israised by the walking-beam trip 20, depression of one plunger admittingair to the gate actuating mechanism or the like through the pipe 22, anddepression of the other plunger closing the pipe 21 from the exhaust aircontainer D, and opening the pipe 23 to permit exhaust to the outer airfrom the gate actuating mechanism or the like, after the operationthereof.

The operation, method of use and advantages of the means, mechanism orapparatus above set forth will be readily understood from the foregoingdescription, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, withoutfurther detail statement. The controller A, the brake or jam cylinder Cand the compressed air supply container B, are not illustrated indetail, as they may be constructed in accordance with standardprinciples and organization. The exhaust air container D, having nospecial features of construction, is likewise not shown in detail.

The employment of the improvements constituting the invention permit ofthe utilization of the energy still present in the partially spentcompressed air which exits from the brake actuating apparatus. Thisenergy is considerable, and ordinarily is completelyV wasted. Accordingto the invention, this energy, stored in the exhaust air container D, towhich the partially spent air passes thro-ugh the pipe Z whichordinarily leads to open air, is led through the pipe 21 to thecontrolling valve F where, still present in'such partially spentcompressed air, it is directed to the gate actuating mechanism or thelike through the pipe 22. An extra service is thus performed by thegiven volume of compressed air provided by the supply container B, suchextra service being performed without extra cost of compression. It willbe noted that the entire mechanism or apparatus embodying the inventionis actuated through the same handle member a of the controller A whichis ordinarily employed to admit compressed air to the brake actuatingmechanism and to release partially spent air from the latter to theouter atmosphere. Movement of the handle member a to the extreme leftposition permits exhaust air from the brake actuating mechanism to theopen air, to release the brake, through the release valve 2, after thepartially spent air container D is charged. This is in accordance withthe normal use of the handle member a, in releasing the brake. Axialrotation of the grip 2S of the handle member a causes the controllingvalve F to work, so as to lead a quantity of partially spent compressedair from the container D to gate actuating mechanism or the like, andaxial rotation of the grip 28 in the opposite direction permits exhaustof air from the gate actuating mechanism or the like, after operationthereof. Thus it will be seen that the hand of the operator is neverrequired to leave the handle member a which is grasped constantly in thenormal operation of the controller A.

I do not desire to be understood as limiting myself to the particularconstruction, formation, combination, association and relativearrangement of parts, members and features shown and described; nor toany particular application of the same to any particular mechanism orapparatus, such as the gate actuating mechanism referred to but notshown because not entering into the essential features of the invention;but I reserve the right to vary the same, -without departing from thespirit of the invention and the terms of the following claims.

Having thus described my invention, -I

claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. In railway pneumaticapparatus, a compressed air supply, a container for partially spentcompressed air, a controller for directing compressed air from thecompressed air supply to brake actuating mechanism and for directingpartially spent compressed air from such brake actuating mechanism tosaid container, and means for passing partially spent air to the openatmosphere at a point between said controller and said container; saidlast named means being actuated by the handle member of the controller.

2. In railway pneumatic apparatus, a compressed air supply, a containerfor partially spent compressed air, a controller for directingcompressed air from the compressed air supply to brake actuatingmechanism and for directing partially spent compressed air from. suchbrake actuating mechanism to said container, and means for passingpartially spent air to the open atmosphere at a point between saidcontroller and said container; said last named means being actuated bythe handle member of the controller; and means operated by the handlemember of the controller for leading partially spent compressed air fromsaid container to mechanism for consuming energy t-hereof.

3. In railway pneumatic apparatus, a compressed air supply, a containerfor partially spent compressed air, a controller for directingcompressed air from the compressed air supply to brake actuatingmechanism and for directing partially spent compressed air from suchbrake actuating inschanism to said container, and means for passingpartially spent air to the open atmosphere at a point bet-ween saidcontroller and said container; said last named means being actuated bythe handle member of the controller; and means operated by the handlemember of the controller for leading partially spent compressed air fromsaid container to mechanism for consuming energy thereof and for openingcommunication between said last named mechanism and the outer air.

4. In railway pneumatic apparatus, a compressed air supply, a containerfor partially spent air, a controller for directing compressed air fromthe compressed air supply to brake mechanism and from brake mechanism tosaid container, and means for exhausting partially spent compressed airto the open air between said controller and said container; said lastnamed means comprit-ing a normally seated release valve, and meansdisposed in the path of travel of the handle member of the controllerand operating to unseat said release valve.

5. In railway pneumatic apparat-us, a compressed air supply, a containerfor partially spent compressed air, a controller for directingcompressed air to brake mechanism and from such brake mechanism to saidcontainer, and means for eXhausting partially spent compressed air tothe open air between said controller and said container; said last namedmeans comprising a pivoted element disposed in the path of t-ravel ofthe handle member of the controller, a normally seated exhaust valve,and operative connections between said pivoted element and said exhaustvalve.

6. Railway pneumatic apparatus comprising a compressed air supply, apartially spent compressed air container, a controller for admittingcompressed air to brake mechanism and for directing partially spentcompressed air to said container, a controlling valve for directingpartially spent compressed air from said container to mechanism forutilizing energy thereof, and means actuated by the handle member of thecontroller for operating said controlling valve.

7 Railway pneumatic apparatus comprising a compressed air supply, apartially spent compressed air container, a controller for admittingcompressed air to brake mechanism and for directing partially spentcompressed air to said container, a controlling valve for directingpartially spent com- 'V pressed air from said container to mechanism forutilizing energy thereof, and means actuated by the handle member of thecontroller for operating said controlling Valve; said controller handlemember having a rotatively mounted grip provided with a cam, and saidlast named means comprising separate operative connections between saidcontrolling valve and said cam.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES R. RICKETTS.

Vitnesses E. C. Monsnns, C. I). WARDEN.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for ive cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of latents, Washington, D. C.

